Austin Osman Spare

An engaging, thought-provoking biography which charts the rise and fall and rise again of British art's darkest star. 'Spare's medicine is too strong for the average man' said George Bernard Shaw, and there was always something uncanny about him. Fascinated with mysticism and spiritualism from an early age, Spare practiced a unique system of magic before retreating to a life of poverty and obscurity. And as Spare the artist went underground, so the myth of Spare the magus began to grow; tales of black magic cloaked themselves around him, as he played the role of sorceror.